I came across a press release today about a new website/tool for authors, called Bublish, which claims to help connect them with new readers. If it works, it may become an essential piece of an author’s marketing campaign.
Here’s the press release. Decide for yourself if it’s worth delving into. And if you’ve signed up already, please do share your experience with us in the comments box!
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Bublish Your Way to More Readers!
The biggest challenge writers face today isn’t finishing a book and getting it to market, but being noticed once they get there. So at WWW we get excited when a new platform demonstrates the sort of ingenuity that can help get books noticed in an ever-growing crowded marketplace.
The social book discovery and commerce platform Bublish fits that bill. Writers can join Bublish for free. You create a bio and upload your photo and book (Bublish requires the ePub format). You then add a book synopsis as well as links to your website and an online retailer, i.e. Amazon.
“My partner Charles Wyke-Smith and I are both writers,” says Bublish founder Kathy Meis. “We wanted to empower authors, to give them a platform to get the word out about their books. We wanted them to have tools to start conversations and draw interested readers toward their larger body of work and into conversations about their stories. As writers, we also knew that the platform also had to enable authors to create quality content fast, share that content across multiple social platforms efficiently and be simple for readers to share with others. What we came up with was the book bubble.”
Example of a “bubble.” Click to enlarge!
Meis explains that there are a number of things that make the book bubble a unique piece of highly effective social content. “Bublish allows authors to chop their digital book into hundreds of small excerpts,” notes Meis. “Authors begin creating a bubble by highlighting the passage from their uploaded ebook that they wish to share. Next, they add their Author Insight. At Bublish, we call this the story behind the story. Think of it as a director’s cut for books. It’s a type of bonus content, and it’s a very powerful way to engage readers.”
“Finally,” says Meis, “the author shares the bubble on Facebook, Twitter or via email and at the same time the bubble becomes part of the Bubble Stream on Bublish.com. Three steps. That’s it.”
Of course writers can then also link their latest “bubble” to their other social media outlets, too — giving all their potential buyers an opportunity to read a passage and gain an insight.
For readers, book bubbles recreate online that quiet, enjoyable bookstore browsing experience that is becoming more difficult to find amid widespread bookstore closures. “No one sells you a book in a bookstore,” says Meis. “With Bublish, there’s no need for writers to say, ‘buy my book’ or ‘download your free sample.’ Instead, they can simply say, ‘enjoy this book bubble.’ If a reader encounters a bubble on Twitter or Facebook and wants to buy a book right from the bubble, they can. If they’re not inclined to impulse buy, they can explore the author’s website and learn more. The book bubble gives readers a lot to explore at their own pace.”
We especially like the author insights that let authors say a little about their book or the particular passage, a bit of “insider info” that lets readers get inside the head of the author.
“There is incredible downward pressure on the price of books,” says Meis. “Authors are going to have to sell more books over a longer period of time to make up for lower prices. This means relationship building will be key. Bublish aims to provide writers with innovative tools to engage with readers in meaningful but sustainable ways throughout their career. It’s a win/win situation for readers and writers.”
What does the future hold for Bublish? “We’ve only just begun,” says Meis. “We’re still in live beta, having just launched this past summer. As we build out our backend mapping tools, we’ll be able to see how readers are interacting with different book bubbles. Our aim is to be able to create a ‘contextual serendipity’ for book discovery.
“In other words, readers on Bublish will be introduced to new writers in the context of the genres and topics that interest them as well as through a social graph interested in those same genres and topics. It’s time to shake up book discovery, and we’re out to revolutionize how writers share their stories and readers find books they’ll love!”